2034 Winter Ball Park Playoffs
The 2034 Winter Ball Park Playoffs was an offseason tournament created by dishnet34 for the 2034 season. Because there were no park playoffs scheduled for the first season since The Great Flood of 1970, an informal tournament was held to determine an unofficial "Park Champion" for 2034. The tournament was won by the GALION F.U.B.A.R., owned by jojo8, who defeated the Cincinnati Reds, owned by oco, in the Grand Final. The F.U.B.A.R.'s only tournament loss came in the first game of the Grand Final. Participating Teams A total of 18 teams participated in the tournament and were randomly seeded into the bracket: *Battle Creek Maple Syrup Cartel (dishnet34) *Milwaukee Brewers (tfence) *Spruce Kabobbers (Parabola) *SimYard Rehab (IstanbulTaye) *Kenosha DNRs (reedjohnson) *Cincinnati Reds (oco) *Galion F.U.B.A.R. (jojo8) *El Chapo's Taint (cujays) *Omaha Spurs (Denton) *Galena Muskies (GoBigRed) *Stay Haderaded (BrewCrew22) *Philadelphia Anderlopes (RAnderson24) *Team Formerly Known as Sharks (Ari) *Wisconsin Moon Men (Nach) *The Abusement Park (VoxHumana) *Greater Saskatchewan Bigfeet (MonkeyChow) *Malta Knights Templar (Nas) *Boston Beersnobs (rob42) Tournament Format The tournament followed a double-elimination format, with five regular rounds of the Winner's Bracket and seven rounds of the Loser's Bracket. The Grand Finals followed the double-elimination format, with the Winner's Bracket winner having to win only once to win the tournament, and the Loser's Bracket winner having to win twice to take the tournament. Results 'Winner's Bracket' 'Play-in Round' Four teams played in the Play-In Round to fill two empty slots in the Round of 16. The losers were put into the first round of the Loser's Bracket. 'Round of 16' 'Quarterfinals' 'Semifinals' 'Winner's Bracket Finals' 'Loser's Bracket' 'Round 1' Notes: ^The game was denoted as a forfeit due to the Anderlopes' inactivity. 'Round 2' Notes: ^The game was denoted as a forfeit due to the Spurs' inactivity. 'Round 3' 'Round 4' 'Round 5' 'Semifinals' 'Loser's Bracket Finals' Grand Finals Originally, the Grand Finals were to be a best-of-three series. However, due to pitcher rest issues with both teams, both teams agreed to have the Grand Finals continue in the double elimination format. Thus, the GALION F.U.B.A.R., with no losses in the tournament, would have to win just one game to take home the championship, and the Cincinnati Reds, who made it through the Loser's Bracket, had to win two games to win the crown. 'Results' 'Series Summary' 'Game 1' The Reds drew first blood in the bottom of the third inning. Justin Fager, with runners on first and second and one out, got a base hit on the fly to center to score center fielder Clifford Kreps for the first score of the game. Two batters later, with the bases loaded, F.U.B.A.R. starter Lincoln Buker bounced a pitch past the catcher to score the second run of the inning for the Reds. The bases were loaded again with two outs two batters later, when a throw home on a groundball to F.U.B.A.R. third baseman William Ramsey was wide of home plate, scoring the third and final run of the inning. The F.U.B.A.R. would get two runs back in the top of the sixth. Second baseman William Norris hit an RBI single with runners on first and second with one out, scoring center fielder Dan Dickson. The next batter, designated hitter Harold Vaught, hit a groundball to Fager, who couldn't handle it, scoring a second run. In the bottom of the seventh, the Reds would increase their lead back to two on a two-out RBI single by first baseman Michael Carroll. It would have been two runs if not for a strong throw by F.U.B.A.R. left fielder Donald Johnson, who threw out Fager, the runner on second, to end the inning. With their backs to the wall in the top of the ninth, the F.U.B.A.R. rallied to tie the game at four apiece. A one-out RBI single by shortstop Michael Bryant and, one out later, a clutch RBI single by Dickson scored Johnson to tie the game and leave the Reds fans stunned. The score would remain the same until the bottom of the 14th inning, when Reds shortstop Timothy Wong hit the first pitch he saw from David Buitron 416 feet to dead center field to walk off the F.U.B.A.R. and put the Reds one win away from a potential title. 'Game 2' Unlike Game 1, Game 2 was a pitcher's duel the entire way. The F.U.B.A.R. got on the board first with a two-out RBI by Johnson to score Vaught to make it 1-0. A couple innings later, in the bottom of the fourth, the Reds would get that run back. Two key misplays by Dickson in center led to the Reds' run, including an error on an easy fly ball and a missed dive in center field for an RBI double by Carroll to tie the game. The Reds would get into a bit of trouble of their own doing in the top of the sixth. After two singles and an error by Fager, F.U.B.A.R. right fielder Jose Bennett hit a laser to right field to score Norris to give the F.U.B.A.R. a 2-1 lead. The Reds defense would keep that score steady with a clutch 9-2 double play, with Reds right fielder Christopher Leeman throwing out Ramsey at the plate, and a big pop-out with the bases loaded two batters later to end the inning. Try as they might, though, the Reds bats were silenced by the combination of Gregory Watkins, John Patterson and Jared Rodiguez, holding them to just five hits and an unearned run on the day. A 14-pitch one-two-three inning from Rodiguez sealed the deal and the championship for the F.U.B.A.R., winning 2-1.